Pay It Forward
by Wolfy-chan
Summary: Silently Trying to pay your dues.. But he Beats you to it.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: ....Insert disclaimer here...Sonic Team..SEGA..blah..blah.. Like any of you would actually sue me..

Genre: Action/Angst/Shounen-ai  
(if you do not know what this is.. You should not read past this chapter, lol)

Pairings: Knuckles x Sonic, Sonic x Knuckles, Sonic x Shadow, Shadow x Sonic. This will be interesting...

Rating: PG-13 As of this moment for violence and a swear word.I'll need to change the rating later.

A/N: This fiction was inspired by head flu, Tylenol, and Orin's godly fan fiction.. Go read her stuff! . ...Wait. Read this, then go. You won't have to agonize going through this after you read hers! ...*cough* onward then.. Not much happening in the Beginning. I like to hurt characters, but that doesn't mean I hate them ^^; Not a lot of Yaoi action in here yet either.. Just a bit of fluff.. But we'll see. Based sorta off where SA2 ended. Several characters from the Archie comic are in here but not many.. I have read one Sonic Archie comic and that is it o.;

**Shadow:** Where am I in here?  
  
**Wolfy:** um.. Behind a wall?  
  
**Shadow:** *Rolls Eyes* That's original.  
  
**Wolfy:** Don't worry! You get your share of action soon enough! ^_^  
  
**Shadow:** *Shudders* Can't wait.. -_-  
  
**Wolfy:** Okay! Some of you may recognize this title from that hit movie. This fiction will be based strongly around the subject.. Maybe in more ways then one. Meh, Don't even know if this will fly off the ground.. Reviews help!! Review me and I will have the will power to continue! But for now, Enjoy what I have :D

**Pay It Forward  
**Search: file:///HD20%/Chapter%1/Beginning.html  


---

The beautiful canvas that stretched out before him was almost enough to numb his spiritual pain. Tree branches swayed in the wind in sync with the glowing pastures and falling water. All welcoming the dance of the evening sun that blanketed the sky with soft colours of summer flowers. Tranquility and perfection would have been a perfect label, but past events ebbed through his mind like hungry termites.

It had been three weeks since the Master Emerald was reported missing. The only thing Knuckles could find in its place was a glinting green shard, no longer than three inches in length. The Echidna fingered the shard rhythmically, staring out into the horizon. It's edges still sharp enough to pierce flesh, his hand avoided the areas uncontiously. Knuckles pondered the emerald's absence.

_That stupid Cow..._ He swore to himself, shifting his position on the rock he occupied. Dr. Robotnick was known to threaten him on a regular basis. '_Destroy you' _this, '_Take your Emerald to superpower my atom bomb' _that. It never worked. The Echidna was dumbfounded at how ignorant he was that day. He moved his hand from the shard to his head. The shard dangled backwards on a rough string to the crescent moon on his chest.

---

On that fateful evening, he, Sonic the Hedgehog , and the Chaotix were on a routine mission to Robotropolis to check up on their favorite mad scientist. They all pressed their noses up to a factory window to peer in and see what was going on inside the building.

"See anything?" Espio whispered up to Charmy who flew up to the second story window.

"Nothing yet!" Charmy hissed over his wings and continued to peer into the window.

"Well This is strange.." The Bright indigo Hedgehog mused aloud, "He usually has at least _something_ planned out by the end of the month.."

"Maybe he ran out of ideas" Knuckles snorted and caused Sonic to grin.

"That would be the day Red, then I could die a happy hedgehog.."

"Hey! Something moved!" Charmy informed the grounded group, and motioned for one of them to come take a look.

"Let me see.." Knuckled scaled the building on sides of the windows, in case something decided to shoot at him from the inside. He reached the hovering yellow bee and stuck his head out to the glass from the left. A great red light looked straight at Knuckles. Knuckles withdrew his head quickly. The light belonged to one of the many machines that Robotnick created and operated. Knuckles could hear the cling of hard metal against the floor, heading in his direction.

"Charmy get down!" Knuckles pushed Charmy below the window and tried to look again. His eye was right in front of the robot's red orb. A small buzzing static began to play inside of the robot;

"Stupid Animals!" The buzzing roared in a familiar voice. Knuckles almost let go of the ledge he was holding onto. The robot's message began to play further;

"You think I would Lally-gag around this factory forever?! It became quite obvious after the first ten visits (which were all timed in sequential order), that you spied on me. Oh, and Knuckles, if you don't climb off that window in five seconds, your emerald will be history."

This time Knuckles did fall when the robot itself burst out of the closed window, breaking the glass. After falling a short distance, the robot and Knuckles clunked into the street. The anteater scrambled to his feet to face the machine.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Knuckles roared at the robot.

"Oops! Too late! I have your Emerald now!..And you will never find me!" Manacle Laughter could be heard outside the static of the transmission. Knuckles clenched his fists together tightly and grit his teeth. A light of realization clicked in his head. _No one was guarding the island! The Master Emerald was completely vulnerable! _He lunged at the robot out of anger and delivered a punch to its chest area. The punch bounced off an invisible force field that flashed for a second, then threw off the Echidna farther into the street. A stinging pain was left from the unsuccessful attack.

"This is no ordinary Badnick.." Charmy pondered, landing by Sonic. The blue hedgehog really wanted to get in there and help Knuckles, be he knew the Echidna would most likely bite his head off if he took all the glory defeating the Badnick. All the Chaotix knew this too, Rad Red had to fight his own battles once in a while. They watched while Knuckles tried attacking again and again, but the more times he tried, the better the robot's evade became. Sonic noticed a small camera near the machine's head... "Eggman is directly controlling it Knuckles! Look at the camera by it's head!"

"From so far away?!" Knuckles rebounded off the ground and pushed himself upwards into the air, dodging the Badnick's laser cannon.

"Clever, Sonic. If I was there, I would congratulate you myself!" Robotnick's mawkish voice replied, "But enough of this.." The Badnick fired a blue beam at Knuckles and hit him dead center. The beam stretched across Knuckle's arm's and chest and joined sides, wrapping the Echidna's arms to his torso. The binding pulled him to the ground. The beam hardened into a strong restraint that Knuckles was having a hard time breaking. Multiple blue beams now fired over to where Sonic and the Chaotix were standing. All beams hit their targets, hardening around each form, making them all fall in unison.

"Shit..Not this again.." Sonic cursed. He has had previous experiences with this type of energy and was trying to work his way out of it. It was very difficult on his part since his arms were locked in a position that he couldn't use to his advantage. More hysterical Robotnick laughter could be heard from the robot's position. When Sonic was about free, the Badnick turned its fire arm on Knuckles.

"Just to make sure you don't go trying to find me, I'll kill you all here... Starting with **you.**" Particles of light began to form at the tip of the gun. Knuckles struggled frantically to rid himself of the blue confinement that glued him down. Knuckles began to panic. Sonic burst out of the blue energy with a snarl and dashed as fast as he could to get Knuckles out of the Line Of Fire.

"NO!! **GET OUT OF THE WAY!!**" Sonic screamed just as the beam was about to fire. The blue hedgehog pushed the grounded Echidna to the far left. The beam fired and time slowed to a halt. An eerie sound of ripping flesh and blood rang out into Knuckles' ears.. Sonic had pushed Knuckles out of the way, but part of his lower torso was caught in the blast. Knuckles' heart was racing. His eyes starred openly as he replayed those last five seconds over and over again. Sonic's left side was protected when he lunged inwards to push Knuckles away, but his right side was open and took it full on, creating a half an inch deep cut off down his flesh and quills. The beam elapsed and time regained its momentum. A great Fatigue crawled over Sonic instantly, gasping for air, trying to stay on balance. He gripped his right side wide eyed in pain. Balance let go of him and he fell to the floor.

"**SONIC!!**" Knuckled screamed frantically once more. For Robotnick to take his emerald was one thing, but to cause his friends to risk life for him was unforgivable. Furious, Knuckles found the strength to break the blue binding and charged blindly at the robot. The Badnick had dropped its defense in order to perform the laser charge and was very vulnerable. The automatic invisible shield was down 50% and Knuckles was able to break it easily with one clean strike. His punch broke through the shield, into the robot's head. He withdrew his hand with haste and watched the robot cripple inward under the forced pressure. Its power supply gave in and shut down. Knuckles now turned his attention toward the other figure beside him. What he saw made his stomach lurch.

Sonic clenched his eyes shut, trying to hide the tears and agony. A large puddle of crimson formed around a long gash on his right side, staining his gloves and quills. The gash started on the side of his lower abdomen, finishing in a bloody mess at his hip. Shaking, Knuckles dropped to his knees beside his fallen friend. The blue confinements around the other Chaotix vanished and they all ran to their side.

"Stupid..Why'd you do that..?" Knuckles said hoarsely. Sonic opened his eyes to face the Scarlet Echidna,

"Hey...That shot would have killed you if it his you dead on like it was supposed to.." Sonic grimaced, "it's not like I'm dying or anything.." He reassured Knuckles with a weak smile.

"You will if we don't do something fast!" Knuckles got to his feet and lifted Sonic carefully off of the ground. The group began to retreat from the city of metal and filth, praying that all of them would make it back alive. Sonic's head was pressed close to the Echidna's chest. He could hear his steady heartbeat and strangled breath. Listening almost made him forget the sharp pain. His vision began to slip when Sonic forgot to breathe, which he did automatically after. The sensation began to return to his senses. He felt Knuckle's heart speed up as he began to run faster.

As strange as Sonic though it was, he felt safe so close to his friend. The Echidna's body pulsed with so much life and determination, setting a path to follow, and would not stop until it had reached his destination. He knew his blood was slowly seeping through Knuckle's already crimson fur. The darker shade of Scarlet was almost invisible, but Sonic knew it was there. Sonic did not regret what he had done; it was either saving the Echidna's butt, or watch him die in the streets. Sonic would obviously put his life on the line than watch any of his friends perish. He then shifted his blurring gaze at four pairs of wild, frightened eyes peered at him through their heavy strides.

_Gotta' hand it to ya' Red..  
  
The compassion your Chaotix show is phenomenal..  
  
Yet.  
  
I feel so safe near you..._

Everything went black.

---

The bright circle now took its place behind the cascading mountains, leaving the sky full of a pink and orange residue. The glint off the emerald's shard emanated silently before disappearing with the sun. Knuckles sat still at his place tenaciously, still contemplating the accident. After the Chaotix and Knuckles safely placed Sonic in the medical bay on the night of the incident, Knuckles forced himself to return to Angel Island to see what he was dreading; The giant Emerald he was supposed to guard missing from it's place. It was like someone digged a giant hole in a renewed lawn. His purpose was gone, and only left one piece of debris.

It was several days before Sonic regained his vision and could feel the pain once again. Knuckles couldn't bear to sit and hear the stifled moans and screams that came from the medical bay so he stayed away from close contact. Knuckles knew that Dr. Quack was a great medic, so he did not question his abilities. Dr. Quack would regularly report Sonic's condition and improvement to the Echidna. Knuckles began a very intimidating habit of pacing then on afterward. At mealtimes, he mechanically ate his food or did not eat at all; The substances had no taste to him.

As the next week passed, Sonic began to roam the Knothole at a crawl. Everyone in sight usually ran his side and tried to help him. All the extra attention was very nettlesome and un needed, but Sonic played along with it. Since he had all of this excess attention, Sonic never had a chance to converse with Knuckles. If the Echidna was in the area, Knuckles would not make eye contact with the cobalt hedgehog. Sonic knew Knuckles was still blaming the accident on himself and Sonic just wanted him to forget about it.

Knuckles brought the shard to his fingers again and thought about Sonic. The hedgehog's almost lifeless body that day was so close to his own. Leaking out his vital crimson liquid upon the Echidna's fur. Knuckles let his other gloved hand brush lay on the fur where the blood used to be. The layered hair brushed inward, showing his partially stained skin, then flopped back into place. Knuckles flushed when he thought of Sonic the second time.

_What is this feeling?!_

Knuckles withdrew his hand. He felt another presence in the area and turned around.

_Sonic._

The hedgehog was surprised to see the Echidna's flushed face. Knuckles didn't get embarrassed real easily. The cotton shirt Sonic wore billowed in the small wind. Sonic looked at his shoes to think of something to say, but Knuckles beat him to it.

"What is it?" Knuckles grumbled hastily, trying to hide his burning face. The actual presence of Sonic made it even worse.

"Um.." Sonic traced his foot in the dirt, creating a rigid line "..I wanted to see how you were doing.. Since you're so quiet and all now.." _Wow, that was so intelligent Sonic!_ he thought and slapped his face. To his surprise Knuckles didn't get up and leave.

"I..I'm sorry Sonic. Its been hard for me." Knuckles stuttered uncharacteristically and turned his face away farther. Sonic frowned at his Scarlet friend and looked at his shoes again.

"I'm sorry too... I shouldn't of acted the way I did back at Robotropolis.."

"Don't apologize. You did what you though was right, right?"

"Well..Yeah.."

"Lemme' see that wound of yours.." Knuckles said turning around to face Sonic. The hedgehog unbuttoned his shirt and let it slide down his shoulders to his left arm. Thick bandages were coming from the top of his left shoulder to his right side where his whole lower torso was covered in white bandages. The anteater's brow raised, "Does it hurt?"

"Only when under pressure," Sonic replied and slowly raised the shirt back up to his right arm. Its sleeve got caught in Sonic's un-gloved hands, small, almost blunt, black nails appeared at his fingertips. "Ow.." he growled as his right arm raised itself, "Could you help me out?" Sonic sardonically asked as he tried to fight on his sleeve. Hesitantly, the Echidna got to his feet and approached Sonic. He pulled the hedgehog's hand out of the sleeve into its proper place. Knuckles face began to burn when he accidentally lingered holding Sonic's hand

"Thanks.." Sonic said, his voice sounding queer and eccentric. He felt a strange disturbance in the bottom of his stomach. Was it regret? No. As Sonic began to button his shirt back up again, his eyes drifted back at the scarlet mass standing before him. Knuckles was trying to hide his face for some odd reason. His eyes drifted to the rest of Knuckles, his curved body and toned muscle mixed with hair that fell in locks of dreads upon a chest that bared the crescent moon.

_I feel so safe near you..._

Sonic knew why Knuckles had hidden his face, for now the blue hedgehog's faced burned bright in embarrassment.

"C'mon, it's getting dark.." Knuckles warned Sonic and waited for him to finish. The two walked in silence back to the knothole, neither of them sharing their peculiar thoughts.

---

**Wolfy:** Okay, that's enough for now..

**Knux:** ...I'm an Anteater?!

**Wolfy: ***falls over* You didn't know?! Acually you are very closley related.

**Sonic:** I feel so unloved...

**Shadow: **You feel unloved? What about me?

**Wolfy: **I'm sorry guys.. This was indeed a depressing chapter. Blood, fluff, Angst, but good stuff anyways! Review! Review! I command thee!

**Knux: **I don't even eat ants..

**Shadow: **I'll pay you a 100 bucks to eat that whole anthill over there.

**Knux:**... You're on.


	2. Two

Rrrround Two!

Disclaimer: ...Place your add here! See management for details!

Genre: Action/Angst/Shounen-ai

Pairings For Ch. 2: Knuckles x Sonic, Sonic x Knuckles. No Shadow yet -__-;

Rating: On the verge of R.. Things are gettn' steamy ^^;

A/N: Woot! Reviews! You make me happy ^_^ Besides that, most of you will strangle me alive if I leave another fiction at a cliffhanger.. I mean it. I will someday finish **Feeling** so I can feel good about myself. Any of you new to Sonic-ish yaoi? Yeah it seems kind of gross, but there is some meaning to it. The transcending of love and feelings is immortal and will cross breeds, gender, and time if needed. Ridiculously **Long** chapter ...I wanted to put two schemes in there, and the minor one sort of went chapter long... So this is a treat for you avid readers! For others; You'll have to enjoy long chapters like this from here on then! Unless I totally run out of ideas...Then I'll need help oO;

**Shadow: **You promised me! Where is my damn part?!

**Wolfy: **Hang on lover-boy! You are either going to make it into this chapter somehow, or come at the beginning of the next one!

**Shadow** I grow impatient.

**Wolfy: **Yeah I know.. I'm just as hyped about writing lime with you as you are...

**Shadow:** ....o_o;;;

Side Note: You missed Chapter one? First, Shame on you! Second, Orin Rox your Sox. Read her fiction, dannit!

**Pay It Forward  
**_Silently waiting to pay your dues, but he beats you to it.  
_

Shuffling of shoes could be heard outside of Knothole's mess hall. With the creak of the door, two figures entered at the same time. One a flushed Echidna, and the other a blue, worn out hedgehog. Knuckles helped Sonic to his seat and proceeded to his own. Lines of Freedom Fighters at the table peered anxiously at the two, first at Sonic with remorse and comfort. Then at Knuckles who found too many faces turned his way. He drifted his gaze to sealing, seeming quite interested in the pattern on the wooden plank to his top left. Once food was served, everyone forgot to peer suspiciously at each other and decided feeding themselves was more important. Knuckles, who had been starving himself in the past week with worry, ate without guilt. Through his fifth serving of stew, his gaze shifted to the hedgehog on the opposite side of the table. He seemed normal enough; Sonic conversed and laughed with fellow freedom fighters, once in a while wincing from slight pain. It didn't bother Sonic, it only made him laugh more. All of the Echidna's thoughts traveled down the table where he stayed transfixed.

_You never cared before.. Back off Knux, it's never going to happen._

_He's so happy with his life, his friends, his butter..._

_Butter?_

"Knuckles..? Will you take your elbow out of the butter?" A voice broke his chain of thought. Knuckles noticed that his elbow was indeed in the butter. He lifted it out hastefully, rattling his dinnerware when he withdrew too fast. Knuckles grabbed a towel, wiped his elbow off in embarrassment (His side of the table were snickering at the Echidna's absent mind), and decided it was a good time to get away from thinking organisms. The halls, stairs, and latters of Knothole were vaguely quiet. Once in a while an Anthromorph would cross, going to its own destination. Shortly after leaving the mess hall, another figure opened the door and left behind him.

"Hey, wait up!" The ecstatic voice he knew too well called from a distance.

"You going to laugh about my butter problem too?" Knuckles called, not looking over his shoulder but heading straight forward.

"Butter? Oh! No, no! Completely harmless mistake!" Sonic waved his hands, smiling as he trotted along side the anteater. He gained a normal pace, but started to loose breath and decided to walk. "You're going the same way I am. I need to go get examined in the medical bay again.. Would you like to come with me?"

_A simple request._ Knuckles wasn't going to make a scene about it. "Sure, Why not." He replied briefly and continued to walk with Sonic up the shoots and latters that was Knothole.

---

At the medical bay, Doctor Quack lead Sonic over to a examining table and asked him to sit. Knuckles took residence at the side of the doorway, crossing his arms.

"Would you take off your shirt for me?" The Doctor asked Sonic. The hedgehog unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. Knuckles remembered the lingered touch he had selfishly enjoyed when he helped Sonic put on his shirt that one time. He turned his face away. Dr. Quack took Sonic's pulse, listened to his chest, and lifted his right arm slowly. From behind, he began to unfasten the many bandages that covered Sonic's waist. The bandages began falling to the floor as sections were taken apart. With nothing on except shoes, Sonic, Dr. Quack, and Knuckles looked at Sonic's right side. The gash seemed almost invisible, except for the off-short patch of quills and fur that was growing in it's place.

"Excellent! You won't have any scar residue from your injury. Quite astonishing actually." Dr. Quack remarked and brushed his hand across the place of the wound. A jumbled flashback of blood and cries of pain rushed through Knuckle's mind, followed by an illusion of his own hands caressing Sonic's fur. Knuckle's blinked and shacked his head, trying to ebb the memory and thought away.

"Tell me when it hurts" Dr. Quack asked Sonic as he pressed his fingers lightly over the gash area, "Now?"

Sonic shacked his head. The doctor pressed his fingers in a bit more. "Now?"

Sonic shacked his head again. This time the Doctor pressed a little bit harder than before which shot a whole new wave of pain through his body. Sonic's quills and fur raised as he gripped the table. "OH SHIT! There! There! Now!" Sonic's k-9 teeth squeezed into his lower lip as he shoved the Doctor's hand away.

"Heh. I see," Dr. Quack chuckled, "You're going to have to lay off doing anything extreme for a couple more weeks. The outside looks fine, but the wound itself is still healing". Sonic looked under his arm again at his new weak point. His eyebrows curved with sadness, but also with a strong sense of determination. The amazing hedgehog will prove the Doctor wrong and be out running rails and tree within the week's end. Knuckles knew he was in for a whole new heap of trouble. Sonic grabbed his shirt off the table and folded it under his left arm.

"Catch ya' later!" He saluted with two fingers and proceeded to the door. Knuckles removed himself from his wall, briefly nodded a 'thank you' to the Doctor as well.

The two rounded the corner out of the medical bay and headed toward the night lit beauty in outside Knothole. Torches burned brightly, casting shadows across the land, and making bridges glow while fireflies danced in rhythmic circles. Knuckles paused to soak in the atmosphere. A heavy weight that he had been carrying since the day of the accident disappeared with the sun. Knowing that Sonic was safe and ready to haul robo metallic butt once again set his mind in a peace.

Still.

The emerald shard around his neck burned cold across his fur. He placed his gloved hand across the emerald piece, searching for the warmth he had known for all those years.

"It's still my fault" The hedgehog sighed beside him, "I should have made sure our missions were spaced out more, to protect your eme-.." Sonic was interrupted by Knuckles, who turned around to face him. The torched perched on the nearby rope bridge made Knuckles' face illuminate wildly with the evening's gradient.

"It isn't your fault...The cow couldn't have gone too far without one of the stationed Freedom Fighters spotting him" Knuckles reassured, "I'm going to go search tomorrow if any information is gathered.. You are welcome to come.." This was the first time the Echidna had deliberately requested assistance from Sonic. The blue hedgehog knew this too and nodded with a curious brow. Knuckles could still see sadness in Sonic's eyes, it was so unusual. Nothing brought Big Blue down. Knuckles also noticed that he was standing *very* close to Sonic as well. The other Anthromorph's breath made his own fur blow in a different direction. Knuckles searched still longer into Sonic's eyes; Not only was there a sadness present, but fear.

_Fear?_

_Is he afraid of me..?_

_Am I too close?_

The Echidna's hand slowly raised and brushed itself across the hedgehog's cheek. The shirt Sonic had tucked under his arm fell out and sprawled like elegant silk to the wooden surface. The touch lingered like strained fatigue before Knuckles withdrew his hand. Fear in Sonic's gaze was now replace with a desire for a certain belonging. Looking at an almost mirrored face to his own burdened his conscious. The hedgehog battled from secret depression and stress, and was very careful about not showing it around others. But for the Echidna to know someone he cared for deeply wore the same mask he did, was rueful. A happy smile was all he could remember for so many years, never sorrow or pain. A shallow mask hid Sonic from the rest of the world; Sure he was loved by everyone, praised and adored by friends, but never wanted them to see a depressed individual. So he hid. He hid his pain from the world and refused to let it out.

Knuckles un-consiousley moved himself from his place out in the open, to cornering Sonic on the nearby wall, right by the burning torch. Sonic began to breath faster in anticipation.The light once again billowed off Knuckles and Sonic's complexions, making a presence of fake aura. Knuckles was so overwhelmed with emotions, that he didn't focus on anything but the figure before him. Even though Sonic's body was shaking, his emerald coloured orbs gleamed with welcome. A hue that he thought was missing from his life, something greedily stolen by fate never to return. A sparkle that fuzzed through his mind like a high...

_So lovely.._

Every noise stopped, every wind ceased. Knuckles gently pressed his lips against Sonic's mouth, releasing a fountain of energy that jagged through his body, into the other figure's form. The feeling brightened their senses and set their bodies aflame. Both leaned themselves against each other, afraid of their actions, but still trying to fulfill their desires before lungs screamed for air. The sensation coursed through Sonic's mind like water; Flooding and drowning his sorrows in a complete moment. The second both let go, the water would disappear and return him to his state. He was still scared of the fact that he was accepting what his friend's action made him do. Sonic closed his eyes and tried not to think. Finally, both of them let go and breathed the cold midnight wind. Knuckles' face and lips seared with heat as he looked down. Sonic's eyes were now open and just as wide as his, his mouth open as well, breathing heavily. Knuckles pushed away from the wall. Lower lip trembling, he tried to speak;

"I-I..I'm sorry!..I d-don't know what came over m-me.." He whispered, looking down at the wooden planks. _Okay! That's it! Your life is officially over! _Knuckles mentally argued with himself, clenching his eyes shut. _How stupid are you?! You kissed Sonic the Hedgehog! Great.. One more thing for him to tease you about.._ He squeezed his eyelids tighter. He could hear the hedgehog on the wall slowly slip down to the floor with trailing fingertips,his breathing still uneasy.

"Sensual.." Sonic breathed into the dark.

"W-what..?"

"It's the only word to describe it..."

Knuckles put his hand to his mouth, "That was your first kiss... Wasn't it?"

Sonic remained silent. The anteater sighed and slapped his forehead. "Something so priceless, Shouldn't have been savored in this manor. I have foolishly led my mind to an abyss.." Knuckles' words bore into his own flesh, regretting what he had done. Without another word, the Echidna traveled down the wooden paved rope bridge, leaving Sonic in a shrewd fire-brightened area, where the fireflies dared not venture. An act of sin had been awaken by a restless spirit; a new hunger unleashed. The hedgehog sat and looked up into the stars. A yearning for a new completion clenched onto his heart... But the kiss blinded him from what was acceptable, what was normal, and what he never had experienced until now in his ridiculously action-packed life. Something with such an impact that would scar him for the rest of his life, confusing reality with the impossible. Sonic could only think of one thing. . .

_"I want more."_

---

Gloved hands clenched onto vertical rock, pushing themselves upward. At a horizontal level, the Echidna dusted off his gloves and looked around. South at a distance, a figure came flying down a metal beam, sparks flew behind him making a sense of mechanical motion. Sonic tilted his body forward to slide faster around a curved beam, lunged off the beam and landed with a 'thud' near where Knuckles was standing.

"Oh Man! I am so alive!" Sonic roared in excitement. Knuckles rolled his eyes,

"You know what Quack said.." Sonic put up a gloved hand to form a crude mouth an imitated Knuckles' Placid drone; "_No doing anything extreme for three weeks_". Knuckles was close enough to slap the hedgehog upside the head when he finished. _And _**_why_** _did I invite him again?! _"Come on... Be serious for a second. From the data I received from Charmy yesterday, The Emerald is hidden somewhere in the Sky Rail area. I sense a great power coming from that climb up there," Knuckles pointed to the farthest, tallest, mountain cylinder.

"We can grind there." Sonic suggested.

"No can do. I'm not equipped for grinding" Knuckles looked down at his shoes, then at the trail of peaks that lead to the tallest one. Now Knuckles knew why they called it Sky Rail; The canyon dropped down as far as the eye could see into an almost bottomless pit. Oddly enough, pillars and stalks of rock protruded everywhere, like the canyon was cut into pieces by a perfect specification. Wind mills and other weather detectors attached themselves to long, curving beams that sailed throughout the whole canyon. The obscure railway was made in days long past when Mobians and Anthromorphs decided they needed a way to travel across the pit.

"Tails should've came. he could have flied you up!" The hedgehog said sarcastically.

"I doubt it, Sonic.." Knuckles mumbled, "It's too long of a distance. I can catch currents and climb the peaks" Knuckles clicked a switch at the side of his Hammer glove. It hummed for a few seconds when it charged up, "I'll meet you there"

Sonic nodded and jumped on the nearest rail. Knuckles dove into the wind on the opposite side and headed for the first pillar. He braced himself for impact and dug quickly into the pillar's side. The rock was very hard; more so than the rock at Pumpkin Hill or Wild Canyon; the Echidna was glad that he brought the Hammer Gloves instead of the Shovel ones. Quickly, Knuckles bore his way up the pillar, pulled his body over the horizontal limit and stood on top to inspect his next leap. Knuckles turned his head east to watch a blue hedgehog slide across a maze of rails. Many would cut off unexpectedly, but the hedgehog just kept looking forward to launch onto the next one casually to keep his balance. Sonic didn't look like he was in any pain. The Echidna discarded his worry and turned back to his own situation. Taking two steps back, Knuckles then ran as fast as he could off of the pillar and lunged into the air. A small current pulled him up for some extra velocity. This time the Echidna landed smoothly on top of the second pillar. Not bothering to plan anymore, Knuckles jumped off of the pillar with the tap of a foot and pitted his metal knuckles into the next one. A small fatigue was rising and a healthy sweat clung to his body. Knuckles didn't mind this much.

After scaling the seventh pillar, Knuckles faced the tallest mountain; All rails leaded to a platform three quarters upward the peak, several mechanical machines hibernated in the spot in case anyone decided to invade their territory. They were standard models, so it was nothing Knuckles nor Sonic couldn't handle. The emerald shard around Knuckles' neck coursed with energy and illuminated irregularly.

"I sense it too.." Knuckles said and held the emerald in his hand for a second. A smitten of new energy coursed into his palm and warmed his body. _I want to bathe in your presence again... _Without thinking, he let himself drop gracefully from the pillar into the streaming air. The wind slithered off of his dreads creating a sense of invisible water that slowed time for a second and let the locks of hair billow like sea plants. Slowly, he pulled himself out of a dive to head north once again to latch onto the mountain side.

_Keep me alive..._

Next began a precarious, almost straight vertical climb. Each hole created with the Hammer Glove took out small chunks of the mountain, of which Knuckles rested his feet on to create another hole to pull himself up. Much strength was needed to attempt such a task, and being the server of the Master Emerald, only required him to have such energy. To know your only purpose could be taken away from you, was all the more strength and determination Knuckles needed to complete the climb. It took Knuckles almost twenty minutes to heave himself up to the third quarter mark. When he pushed himself over the platform, he saw the bright Indigo hedgehog sitting on top of a pile of twisted metal and broken robotic limbs. The echidna breathed heavily while eyeing Sonic.

"Having fun?"

"Not in the least.." Knuckles huffed, wiping the sweat away from his brow and muzzle.

"Bring the proper equipment next time!" Sonic pointed at his shoes, "If you want, I'll give you a piggyback ride on the way down."

"Very funny.." Knuckles growled. Past Sonic he saw a set of power-bounce activated springs, "Take one of those to the top, I'll meet you up there."

Sonic eyed the springs then looked out in the distance to see small red star-stamped springs in ridiculous places, scattered around various pillars and walls, "Ever wonder how these damn things get there?"

"Why yes, I think about that a lo-..GET GOING!!" Knuckles yelled, aggravated. Sonic stuck out his tongue and hopped onto one of the springs and began to repetitively bounce his way up the rest of the mountain. Knuckles clung onto the wall and began to climb again. Shortly after Sonic began, he reached his mark and landed on the top. Knuckles slowly inched his way up the rest of the mountain, feeling the power of the shard grow as they proceeded upward. Reaching the summit, the Echidna heaved his body over with one arm, twisting his legs up and over to pull the rest of himself up into a stance. Knuckles looked at Sonic, who was frozen still. Every quill and hair on his body arched dramatically as he looked straight forward... When the Echidna saw what Sonic was looking at, it made him want to scream;

The colour of night back dropped itself against red orbs that matched the curves of legs and feet. Bands of gold encircled gloves of white and red, trailing down to the complexity of shoes that hovered inches from the ground. Floating the same distance was a large gem of green, encircling on top of a palmed hand.The Master Emerald had shrunken itself in a last minute resistance against the thievery; It hid its true power in its core, while it took the shape of a normal Chaos Emerald. A psychotic grin rushed over the nightmare's face,

"So the peanut gallery decided to show up." A cool dark voice glistened in the high altitude, disturbing the hovering emerald to catch it on its face.

"...You're dead." Sonic placidly replied, every emotion failed him. Standing before the two figures was none other- than Shadow the Hedgehog, "You perished in the atmosphere.. We all saw it!" Sonic began to get frustrated. His eyes glassed over peculiarly as he tried to keep straight vision.

"Strike Two." Shadow mocked, holding out his index finger that held the emerald, "You didn't bother to watch the end. Had enough drama for that day, didn't you? Just when I was going to fold a new leaf. Let me tell you what happened afterward. Sit Down."

With a rush of invisible power, a great surge pulled Knuckles and Sonic to their knees where it held them tight.

"I was thinking the same thing Hedgehog; I was a goner. I was going to die. Lucky for me, I held onto a Chaos Emerald long enough to withstand the atmosphere. The Gem broke into tiny pieces before my hands, leaving me plummeting to the earth's surface. Of course I had to hit something sharp when I hit the ground," Shadow looked at his hands, "Blood still stains my fur to this day. Bleeding, lying on the organic forest floor, I decided I wasn't going to care anymore; I made a mistake back then..And I was so Hell-bent on fulfilling a false lie that I couldn't see my own intentions! Don't you hate being alone?" Shadow leered back at the two Anthromorphs, a sense of pain bordered his eyes, "Don't you just feel like dying sometimes? But no. Someone didn't want me to die. Someone found me on that forest floor and nursed my wounds. Someone gave me a new ideal and knocked some sense into my head..." He paused to breathe, "You know who that person is?"

A Roar. A distorted roar of a thousand people rose above the mountain and highlighted the wind with a new direction. The bellowing noise came from behind Shadow, who let the new coursed wind pull his quills up toward him, not flinching or breaking his stare. Time stops once again as a great mechanical machine rose from the mountainside. From the inside the machine arose the figure of immortal overbearing torment; Dr. Robotnick. Sonic and Knuckles' pupils sharpened and decreased.

"He cares, unlike anyone else who bothered to look for me. And for that I thank him. Say good-bye to life, and welcome your perdition" With a single finger, excess debris and newly cut rock levitated from their original place and all flew to one direction; Sonic. With a crack of light, The invisible band that held Sonic and Knuckles down disappeared, the debris all shot for the Hedgehog's stomach. With a single blow, the rock pushed Sonic off the end of the mountain top. Knuckles' pupils decreased even more; without thinking, broke from his position and ran to the end of the flat mountain and dove after the falling hedgehog. The rush of air clung to Knuckles' face as he clenched himself into a small, tight shape, trying to cut through the wind faster to reach his friend. It didn't take long, he saw the wide-eyed Indigo figure falling in a pool of pure fear. With a push, Knuckles gained a second of speed and caught up to the hedgehog. He wrapped his arms around the figure tight and spun him around in the wind.

"What are you doing?!" Sonic managed to choke out from beneath him.

"If we hit the ground..You won't take impact shock this way.." Knuckles closed his eyes and took a ragged breath.

_Don't you hate being alone? Don't you just feel like dying?_

They left Shadow to die, without thinking if he could have survived or not. Acts of forgetfulness and mind full of suffering and pain always can change if someone decided to give their hand and care about their problems. It was Robotnicks plan all along, to gain Shadows trust when his sense was fogged, to suck him back into a trap of power, that would induce even more horror upon the earth.

Sonic gritted his teeth and held tighter onto his partner.

_We're going to die._

_He's going to die._

_For me.._

He racked his brain for a solution. Nothing came to mind. The deathly sense of feeling nothing at your time of need was very sickening to him. He couldn't pull himself out of it. If he did, he would be looking down at someone he knew that sacrificed their life for his cause, instead of being the other way around. Sonic didn't want this to happen. The vertigo sent his stomach lurching and screaming, making it all the more difficult to concentrate. Sonic began to go spastic. He yipped fearfully and set his heart racing faster. Knuckles Felt the Hedgehogs breathing accelerate and Sonic's mind began to panic. Knuckles drew another ragged breath and clenched his eyes shut until they watered.

_No....No... No... No... No..._

_Oh God, please don't end like this.._

_No.._

_Please help me!_

Sonic played with his subconscious, pleading it to help him as a last minute effort.

_The Master Emerald is the source and being of all Chaos emerald.._

The Master Emerald. Both were somewhat 20,000 feet away from it by now. It was the only thing they had left. The hedgehog concentrated his mind on the emerald and begged it silently to grant him strength Something Sonic had never done, but was willing to try it now. When nothing happened, his heart skipped a beat and his sanity exploded.

_HELP ME!!!_

Tears began to pour down the hedgehog's face. The fingernails under his gloves began to clench tighter into Knuckles' skin. Sonic fell the emerald Shard around Knuckles' neck press into his own chest. The emerald shard began to increase with heat when the hedgehog let out a strained wail. His eyes fogged over as the image of united gems of circled colour flashed over his sight. An eerie stream of what looked like disrupted feathers sailed from Sonic's fur and disintegrated int the air with a whisk of bright light. Glowing light enveloped the two falling characters. Fogged eyes changed into a wild haze of mixed colours of a scale that repetitively lifted themselves off of the hedgehog. Fur and spines switched hues as Quills arched backwards in a fluid motion. The muzzle toned itself forward and the whole body itself grew.

Knuckles' eyes opened to a new view. They stopped falling. Well, their stomachs stopped falling. A strength supported his weight as a light illuminated his features. The form which was Sonic was changed in an astonishing array of unseen power; A cry that Gaia himself couldn't refuse. Hyper Sonic slowed their falling rate to a 80 mph notch and switched sides with Knuckles again. Facing upwards, he noticed that by slowing down his fall rate, the Debris that fell with him were plummeting more rapidly. Hyper Sonic leaned to left out of the first rock's range.

"You're going to have to help me on this" Sonic's soft, yet determined voice asked. A silent, unnoticed stream of tears flowed from his face, showing that Sonic was not a God, but a mortal that needed to test his life's survival. Knuckles looked up to Sonic's face quickly, then turned his attention toward the rocks above them that they were facing.

"70º to your right" Knuckles breathed into Sonic's ear. Sonic tilted to the right and the rock flew past his figure without impact. And that's what happened. Knuckles told Sonic which way to bend and dodge while Sonic performed along with Knuckles to get out of the debris' way.

"Arch your back, Spin vertical 40º and rise two feet!" Knuckles calculated his orders in his head rapidly, like playing a chess match, and had every single move planned out twenty two moves beforehand. Sonic instantly took action and didn't slow down for anything. The bright energy that coursed through his veins secured his being with a confirmation;

_We Will Survive._

But as the debris began to decrease, Hyper Sonic's energy began to fade slowly. The energy itself was taking away all the strength Sonic held in his body. Knuckles felt Sonic starting to struggle and lag at the end of a long series of dodging and curving. Searching for strength inside of himself, he spiritually clenched onto hi Emerald shard. A strange tongue replaced his own as he spoke the language of old. Like a Latin incantation, the drone repeated itself over and over, becoming more frantic each time it was repeated;

_Heavens Meadows Replenish this soul's life with that of my own. Gaia hold my strength as a tool of another._

Over and over again this was said in the Ancient Echian language. The emerald shard began to glow.

Sonic felt life return to his body, but at the same time, felt another's life decrease.

"You can't do that for long" Sonic argued, now facing against the wind, trying to speed up the falling process. A thousand Yards below showed the ledge of rock that the two started from at the beginning of Sky Rail. Knuckles still pulled through the lack of energy, and repeated his incantation any ways. _Gaia hold my strength.. Gaia hold my strength.._ Closer and closer the ground became, maximising in space, stretching out into infinate plains.

At long last, both of them skidded across the rock's surface into small brush. The light and colour faded from Sonic's form with a wisp of air and energy returned to Knuckles. The Echidna was the first to stand, his face was full of sorrow and anger. From where Sonic lay, he gazed into the Echidna's face. Knuckles spoke;

"Stop saving me, dammit!" Knuckles' sorrow was replaced by a sudden outburst of a solid anger. Mixed with theconfusions, irritated Knuckles to no end, "I need to support my dignity!**I need to pay it forward**!!" The Echidna let the salty liquid run down his face for a minute as he looked at the confused individual. Knuckles felt disgusted with himself; He was supposed to save Sonic from peril to return an infinite burden he carried around with him. But instead, the hedgehog pulls them both out of it again, and the Echidna felt like he didn't do anything but worsen the matter. With a grimace, he turned his face away and walked slowly away, leaving Sonic to brew in the evening's dust.

---

"Think they're dead?" A Husky voice hissed over an over com. Shadows silhouetted Robotnick like an ominous presence, lingering over his figure while trailing across to the second one.

"No" Shadow's dark voice replied immediately, "But they better have fallen on something sharp."

---

Yes. I am cruel for ending it there. But it satisfies me for a chapter ending. From what I know so far, this isn't your Daisy-Cotton-Candy filled fic; When it ends, you'll either be in tears, or be ready to kill me for ending it that way o_O; Ack! Always so Morbid.. But that's the only way I love to write; It's not like I'm depressed or anything, but this is the kind of writing that keeps a reader busy with an inside emotion, instead of an external one that lasts only a few minutes. Sometimes you have to think. (Yeah, I know, thinking is hard..) When you do, it maybe a little more clear for you..I'm rambling.. *shuts up* Review please! This took forever to write and I wanna know how I did ^_^;

-Wolfy


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